


Don't Like The Backseat

by sailingonstars



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Circus, Alternate Universe - Future, M/M, genetic modifications, gimme all the smut tho, idk what else, im scared of posting it lmao, its cliche as hell but thats what makes me happy so shut up, its essentially a get together fic, kidding i tried and i didnt know how to write it so i trashed that part, liam and zayn not explicitly mentioned, mention of blood but like its such a tiny part, no smut in this christian household, okay im done, okay so im new to this, orphan!louis, shiall insinuated
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-06
Updated: 2019-09-06
Packaged: 2020-10-11 10:15:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 14,252
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20544488
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sailingonstars/pseuds/sailingonstars
Summary: The one where its the year 3019 and Louis runs away to join a circus in which Harry is a trapeze artist.





	Don't Like The Backseat

**Author's Note:**

  * For [2014arias](https://archiveofourown.org/users/2014arias/gifts).

> Prompt: Future AU x Circus AU. The year is 3019, and character A runs away to join a traveling circus, where character B is a performer. Your discretion can be used to determine what the future in 3019 looks like. Bonus points for robotic flying animals.
> 
> ALSO! massive thank you to Maggie (disgruntledkittenface on tumblr) for being the best beta ever.

Louis’ palms were sweaty and his heart was threatening to beat out of his chest. He tried to take a few slow, deep breaths. This was his last resort, he’s all out of options, and he can’t mess it up by letting on how nervous he is.

Sitting across from him was a man named Frank, the living, breathing stereotype of a ringmaster, red suit and all. He’d discarded his black top hat when they sat down, revealing a balding head, although he had a full beard and an imperious mustache to make up for it. He twirled the end of said mustache as his beady eyes skimmed Louis’ CV on his clear glass tablet.

Louis wouldn’t even call it a CV, really. He had thrown it together last minute once he realized that he wanted to do this. Sitting here now, as Frank looks it over, he knows this is either the biggest mistake he’s ever made or this is what anxiety feels like.

He really couldn’t think of a single better plan than this one, though.

“And you’re sure about this?” Frank asked, his heavy New York accent out of place in the dodgy part of London they’re meeting in, finally looking up from his tablet. His forehead wrinkled and his eyebrows furrowed as he looked Louis over.

“I think so, sir.” Sir. Hah. He almost couldn’t recognize himself. Desperate times and all that.

Frank looked at him one last time before shutting his eyes and pinching the bridge of his nose. He sighed and set his tablet down. “You know, what the hell, okay. But you gotta know you’re in this for the long run. You can’t up and leave halfway through if you change your mind. And you should know that our reputation precedes us, Cirque Cepheus billboards are all over Europe and everyone’s already skeptical of everyone that works here. I don’t just take in people without any genmods. If you opt in, kid, you might not have the option to do anything else. Ever. You gotta be sure, son.” He paused for a bit before adding, “You know everyone here has some kind of genmod. You’d be an exception. You have to be okay with the consequences.”

Louis hesitated for a second, reconsidering his options, but he came to the same conclusion he did when he first decided to join Cirque Cepheus. There is no other choice. No choice that he prefers to this one anyways. This, he thought, is a good alternative to living on the streets, and someone who ran from home at 17 and has been struggling to make it in the real world for 6 years shouldn’t really be picky, especially if they find a place that’s not only willing to house and feed them, but also pay them and take them as far away as Louis’ ever been before. He put on the most confident face he could muster and nodded quickly.

“I don’t think I have ever been more sure of anything in my life.” A lie, but that’s something he’s learned to perfect over the years. “Sir,” he added for good measure.

Frank looked over his face one last time and then relaxed his shoulders, gave him a warm, eye-crinkling smile and put his hand out to shake Louis.’ “Welcome to Cirque Cepheus, kid.”

Louis’ stomach gave an uncomfortable squeeze, but then warmth spread through his body as he relaxed and took the older man’s hand to shake.

“You’ll work as a general assistant for the time being until we get you situated. That’s a 24-hour job. I’ll show you how things work around here too, officially introduce you to everyone tomorrow. No one’s been expecting a new member to our little family but I wouldn’t worry too much about it; you don’t seem like the type to cause trouble. Stay out of their hair, they’ll stay out of yours. Cigarette?” he said all of this while looking extremely at ease, a slight smile ever-present on his face. Frank pulled out a packet of cigarettes and a lighter, offering one to the smaller boy in front of him. By god did Louis need a cigarette right now, but he shook his head, declining politely, not knowing why his body betrayed his head that was screaming for a rollup.

Frank shrugged, lighting a cigarette for himself and inhaling for a few seconds before blowing out a puff of smoke. “Lewis, was it?”

“Louis, actually.”

“Well, Louis, am I right to assume you’ve seen the show before?” he asked, raising an eyebrow and taking another puff of his cigarette.

“Yeah... I was young but I remember a lot of it.”

“That’ll have to do for now.” Frank was intimidating Louis with his sharp gaze fixed on him. This might be what having parental figure in his life was like, but he can’t be quite sure. His first counselor, Jay, was the closest thing to a parent he’s had and Frank reminded him of her in more ways than he could count. She was the only person that might have actually cared about how Louis turned out. She used to tell him that he’s destined for big things but that sweet memory has turned bitter. He hated to think of her and how disappointed she would be of him. Jay had left him and the 9 other kids in the orphanage with no warning, no goodbye, and he’d never managed to get a reason for it from anyone there. Louis was furious at first, betrayed even, but he knew she wouldn’t have left if she didn’t absolutely need to. He spent two more years in that place with the new counselor, Simon, who was absolutely determined to make his life a living hell, and finally a few days before his 17 th birthday, he left the orphanage and never looked back.

“Well,” Frank said, his voice yanking Louis out of his trance and back to the crummy office they were in. He was looking at Louis with furrowed eyebrows and an expression that was indecipherable before shaking his head slightly and smiling again, “That’ll do. You should go sleep and pack for the longest journey of your life, son. I’ll see you tomorrow. If you have any questions save ’em for some other day, it’s getting late. Now shoo, go, leave.”

Louis was escorted to the door and pushed out before he could object. Frank patted him on the back twice before closing the door and leaving him out in the field the oversized train car was set up in. His denim jacket was way too light for the cold breeze of the October night and he pulled it close around him as he walked in the direction of the abandoned house he’s been staying at for the past few weeks. He was sort of hoping he could start today, sleep somewhere warm for a change, but he didn’t want to argue with the person that was giving him a lifesaving job over one more night of sleeping in the cold. He walked to the place that kept him sheltered from the outside world, where his already packed duffle bag sat, and where his sleeping bag was waiting, for what he hoped would be one last day of trying to stop himself from shivering from the cold of the uninsulated house. He knew he might have looked off to any onlookers, but he couldn’t seem to wipe the smile from his face, a feeling of  _ finally doing something right _ filling him up inside.

The sun was probably surprised at how early Louis woke up the next morning. He figured it was adrenaline of what’s waiting ahead that kept him from getting the sweet, sweet, 10 hours of sleep he usually longed for. Sleep was probably the best part of his day; he wasn’t usually stoked about being conscious.

Once he was fully awake, he packed his bags and headed straight to the railyard to report to the circus train. In his haste to get Louis out of his office yesterday, Frank had forgotten to tell him what time he should be there and he figured that, since he’s been awake at the crack of dawn, 7 a.m. was as good a time as any to get going. It was a full 30-minute walk away anyways.

Louis decided to stop at the nearest coffee shop to use some of his last little bit of money to splurge on a coffee. He always had a few euros saved up for emergencies and he knew it was a little risky spending his money before he officially joined Cirque Cepheus, but this was the happiest he’s felt in a long time and he thought this was cause for celebration, if any.

By the time he got to the circus train he was absolutely buzzing with excitement and caffeine, and he could barely stand still.

Two people were standing outside with steaming cups of something-or-another. One of them was wearing grey sweatpants and a white sweatshirt that said “fuck you, no.” His black hair was a little all over the place and, even though Louis couldn’t hear what he was saying, his face told him that he didn’t want to be awake at this time. The dude he was talking to had brown hair and the brightest crinkly-eyed smile he’d ever seen. Way too bright for 7:30 a.m. Even for Louis, who was currently pumped on caffeine.

Louis decided to walk up to them and say hi. He’s not sure if Frank was awake yet and he was here already so he might as well meet his “new family.” He really, really hoped this would work out.

The crinkly-eyed guy looked up once Louis got a little closer and stopped talking, a sort of quizzical look suddenly painted on his face. Louis cursed in his head and wished he’d stayed back. He hadn’t considered the fact that Frank might have not mentioned his arrival (or his existence for that matter) and they might not take him seriously, but he kept walking regardless. It wasn’t like him to back down and he’d spent the last few weeks not acting like himself, the desperation of running out of options messing with his head. He finally decided that enough was enough.

“Hello,” Louis said once he got within earshot of the two guys. He smiled and adjusted the straps of his backpack on his shoulder, then put his hand out for the brown-haired guy to shake. “Louis Tomlinson. I – uh – I’m not sure if Frank mentioned me, but I talked to him last night about joining you lot. On the road, I mean.”

The brown-haired guy looked skeptical at first but then the smile came back and he took Louis’ extended hand to shake. “Liam Payne. Frank didn’t mention anyone joining… he should be out in a few minutes, you’d probably want to wait for him and have the ‘welcome to Cirque Cepheus’ chat. I can absolutely promise you it will be uncomfortable, but we all had to go through it.” He chuckled a bit before seeming to remember the other guy was standing next to him. “That’s Zayn by the way.”

The black-haired guy, Zayn, shook Louis’ hand reluctantly and simply said, “Escapologist. What do you do?”

The question took Louis by surprise. Joining had been a last-minute ordeal and he hadn’t really thought about the minor things, like the questions, introductions, and the awkward beginning period.

“Actually I–” Louis was cut off by the sound of Frank’s train car door opening, the man in question walking out in striped pajamas and an old-timey sleeping hat.

“Aaah! Louis! You’re here early, aren’t you?” Frank exclaimed, a little too loud, but Louis was really glad to see him.

“Yes, sir. You, ah, didn’t mention what time I should be here yesterday so I just came… uhm… early.”

“Please stop calling me sir, boy. It makes me feel old. Frank would do. And I see you met Liam and Zayn? Good morning, lads.”

“Morning, Frank,” they said in unison.

“It’s actually a good thing you came early, I was thinking about your job role yesterday and this works out perfectly. Payne, would you take Louis with you on the checkup spree? It’ll probably be his job from now on since he’s got no genmods. Run along now.”

Frank didn’t even wait for Liam to answer, he left the train car he was in and got into the one immediately to his right, closing the door and leaving the three guys in stunned silence.

“You… don’t have any genetic modifications? No mutations or anything?” Liam asked with a frown.

“Heh, uh, no, not that I know of. I grew up in an orphanage and I haven’t discovered anything different within me. Haven’t got any of the good looks or the superpowers, unfortunately. If my biological parents knew they were going to give me to an orphanage, I don’t suppose they were willing to spend extra money on me for genmods, you know?”

Louis hated how people usually looked at him when he told them he has no genmods; they were so normalized and expected of everyone to have, everyone always pitied him for being a “normie.” Liam and Zayn, though, didn’t give him that look. Liam simply just smiled, nodded and continued with the conversation as if Louis hadn’t just told him what he just had.

“Okay then! Let’s get going before Frank gets out of the bathroom and yells at us for still standing around. Zayn, you coming with?”

Zayn shook his head and, with a pat on Louis’ back, left them to go inside what Louis guessed must have been his train car.

“Right this way!” Liam said, walking towards the end of the train to their left. “Guess you won’t be having the talk now. Consider yourself lucky, mate. Okay, let’s get into it! A checkup usually takes two hours or so, it’s really simple work. We’ve got to check on five things: the gear, the animals, the performers, the food supply and the engine room.”

They got to the end of the train and stood in front of one of the larger cars. Each train car was a different shape and they all varied in size. What they did have in common was their reflective metallic surfaces and the fact that they were all floating a few inches above the ground. Louis wondered what the train looked like when all the cars were hooked up and on the go. Liam pulled a tablet out of his pocket and unlocked the train car they were standing in front of using some sort of code and tapping his thumb on the door twice. On the inside, a low light shone on a bunch of cabinets and shelves. Three huge fridges stood towards the back of the trailer.

“As you might have guessed, this is the storage for the dining car. Food, snacks, drinks – you name it, we got it. Or, at least, this is what we’re here to check.” Liam pointed at different color-coded cabinets and explained what each color means. Louis didn’t expect everything to be as orderly as it was, but everything was labeled and stacked neatly. The three fridges, one green, one red and one shiny black, had labeled shelves for fruits, vegetables, meats and ‘others’ respectively. Liam explained that for the checkup, all Louis had to do was check each labeled container of food. If anything needed restocking, all he had to do was take note of it and report it to Frank.

“So in this case,” Liam typed into his little tablet as he spoke, “we’re low on beans, chicken, vegan replacements, and wine.” He looked up from his tablet and smiled at Louis brightly. “Questions so far?”

Louis shook his head slightly. If his job was inventory, this couldn’t be too bad.

“Okay then, let’s keep going.”

They skipped the next train car over and walked to the third from the back. This one was one of the bigger cars, connected to three identical ones to its right.

“How long have you been here? With the circus, I mean.” Louis asked in a low voice. The question surprised Liam, making him stop typing for a second. To be honest, the question surprised Louis too. He wasn’t really sure when his mind turned to pry mode but he didn’t remember giving his approval for it to do so. Nevertheless, the question hung between them, unanswered, making the air a tiny bit tense.

Liam’s smile returned and he continued his search for the right key. “I’ve been here for maybe 6 years. These folks are more of a family to me than my actual biological family was. You’ll get to meet them soon enough. Frank took me in and I’ve never even wanted to look back since. Speaking of family, we’re about to meet my second one.” Liam pushed the train car door open revealing a huge barn-like interior. The light inside came almost exclusively from a skylight on the ceiling of the car, sun shining in making it feel almost a bit nostalgic, although Louis wasn’t sure what he would be nostalgic for. The floor was wooden and so were the stalls, which was a drastic contrast to the shiny metallic exterior of the train car.

Liam whistled like he was calling a dog, but instead of a dog running to them, a chorus of animal noises startled Louis beyond his wits.

Louis followed Liam warily to the first stall. Waiting for him on the inside was a massive elephant, bigger than Louis ever thought elephants could grow. Walking closer to it, he realized that two of the animal’s feet were robotic. A huge patch of skin was missing from his side, showing off the elephant’s muscles entangled with an assortment of chords, bolts and nuts. Other than that, a regular elephant stood in front of him, trunk, tusks, and all.

“This is Cetus,” Liam said while feeding the animal something off of his hand. “He’s low maintenance. Feed him twice every day and oil him up once a week, at least. I don’t think you’ll have to do that too often, I usually like to take care of the animals myself. They’re part of my act, so it helps both of us if I spend more time with them. Come closer, he won’t bite.”

Louis inched closer and bent down to grab a few peanuts from a bucket on the ground. He walked up to Cetus and the elephant took the peanuts from Louis’ open hand and shoveled them into his mouth. Louis realized that the inside of Cetus’ stall was painted red and a little nightlight shone bright in the right-hand corner of it.

“Frank takes in injured animals, fixes them up and gives them to me to train them.” Liam talked about Frank with such fondness in his voice, it was quite contagious. “He got him from a zoo in France. You’d think animals as endangered as elephants would be treated with care but Cetus was in a very rough condition when we got him. People can be cruel sometimes.” As the boy talked, his expression darkened. Louis’ known Liam for all of 15 minutes but seeing his ever-present smile and good nature turning into a sort of black cloud in the barn they were in was unnerving.

“Is that why there’s a nightlight in his stall?”

“Ah,” Liam said, “Yes. Cetus is afraid of the dark; we always make sure his nightlight is on. That’s one thing you gotta make sure of every day. His old zookeeper used to lock him up in the back room of the elephant exhibit. No light or anything.” Louis nodded seriously as Liam went on with teaching him how to properly feed and take care of Cetus. He then introduced him to the other animals in the barn. Louis counted 9 animals in that trailer besides Cetus, three zebras, two horses, a tiger, and three monkeys, all of which had some sort of robotic element to them.

After Liam showed Louis the proper care routine for all the cyborg animals, they moved on to the next train car over. “This one’s also an animal den,” Liam explained while typing the appropriate code. This code system was really inconvenient in louis’ opinion, how the hell was he supposed to learn all the codes and which one does what. “All the animals here are fully robotic. Niall might be inside already, he’s our mechanic.”

They walked in to a barn that was an exact replica of the one they were in previously. Liam whistled again and all the animals yelped in what Louis assumed is a sort of warm welcome. “Do I have to do that too? Whistle to ’em?”

“Not at all. I just find that they’re a little friendlier if they know I’m coming. It’s sort of like classically conditioning them for the checkup.”

Right then Louis heard a huge clang and an “aah, fuck me!” coming from somewhere towards the back.

Liam’s smile grew even bigger somehow as he said, “That would be Niall.”

Louis’ smile grew as well. He’d probably get on with Niall perfectly. Talk about first impressions.

They walked up to say hi to Niall first before starting “the rounds” as Liam called them. On their way to the back, they walked past what Louis was sure is a huge gold eagle, several tiny silver dinosaurs and one regular-sized bronze bear, which was enormous nonetheless.

As they approached Niall, a man with brown hair and striking blue eyes, Louis started to wonder if everyone here was a supermodel of some sort. His overalls and handsome face were covered in soot and grime, but his legs were absolutely drenched in some sort of white liquid. He had a wrench in his hand, a tool belt around his waist and a bucket of said white stuff laying by his feet, the insides all over the floor. 

Niall was muttering and trying to wipe some of the grime off of his face when he noticed that they were there.

“Payno! Here to keep me company?” he asked, his voice a decibel too loud for the time of day.

“Checkup, actually. Taking this lad on a tour. Niall, this is Louis. Louis, Niall. Frank said his job would be checkups and helping around and such… you might wanna snag him as an assistant before anyone else takes the opportunity.”

“I’m right here you know,” Louis protested but he chuckled lightly; there was a playfulness and easiness in the air that was unparalleled by anything Louis’ experienced before. It was nice. Louis could get used to this.

Niall laughed a bit too enthusiastically at Louis’ comment and said, “I’d shake your hand but…” as he held up his hands, showing Louis how dirty and grimy they were. Louis hadn’t noticed it before but this guy had a very prominent Irish accent. “And you betcha I’ll take him up as an assistant. Things like this–” he gestured at the bucket of spilled white stuff “–could be prevented with your help.”

“You’re just clumsy, Horan,” Liam said playfully.

They said goodbye to Niall and continued on their checkup journey, doing almost the exact same thing here as they did with the first animal train car.

“And then, as we discussed, the most important part of the checkup is locking up behind you,” Liam said as he locked that train car, with Niall still inside. Louis hoped he had a key to leave as they staggered to the second train car on their right.

“Wake up calls next. Perrie, Jade, Leigh and Jesy are in this trailer. They’re usually up early anyways so I just...” He knocked on the door twice and it swung open, a blonde girl stood in front of them fully dressed in gym attire. “Morning Liam!” she said cheerfully, tying her hair in a neat ponytail. “Who’s this?”

“Louis.” Liam clapped Louis on the back a bit too hard. “He’ll be joining us on tour.”

“What do you do?” she asked, eyeing him up and down as if considering all the things he’d be able to add to the show.

“Assisting, I think. And checkups.”

“Oh?” She raised an eyebrow and looked at Liam but he just smiled and said, “Tell the other girls that breakfast’s ready, they better all be there before Frank.”

“Got it,” she said, stomping her foot and raising her hand in a mock salute before closing the door.

“Perrie. She’s a sweetheart. They’re usually the only ones that open the door, everyone else is probably asleep. We’ll just knock twice on all the doors.”

And true to word, no one opened the door until the very last train car. Liam told him who was in each car as they passed by and Louis was kinda shocked at the amount of people there was, he wasn’t sure he’ll be able to remember all of them. He just walked in silence next to Liam, trying to take it all in and admiring the different train cars, each one a different color and size. Some were even covered in paintings; about half of them were childlike and amateurish but the others appeared to be done by a truly talented artist. Louis didn’t question the combination all that much; it was no weirder than anything else he’d encountered so far.

When they reached the last trailer, however, the door swung open after the second knock and Louis’ breath hitched in his throat. The guy who walked out was tall with brown hair tied in a bun on the top of his head and terrifyingly green eyes. Louis didn’t think he’d ever describe green as terrifying but the color was striking, not in its vividness, but in its depth and the way it sparkled. He looked well rested and he was smiling warily, a kid on his shoulders. Louis’ heart skipped a beat. He decided to ask Liam later if Frank went scouting for them at a modeling agency because this was absurd. Every single person he’s met today had been absolutely gorgeous, even though the guy in front of him was on a whole other level, no offense to anyone. Before Louis, Liam or the mysterious guy could say anything, the kid on the guy’s shoulders shrieked really loudly and tried to fling himself off of the guys’ shoulders

“Liam,” he exclaimed, running to hug Liam’s legs as soon as the guy put him on the floor.

Liam’s crinkly-eyed smile came back full force while he hugged the little guy back.

“Good morning, Pedro! Oh, you stayed with Harry again?”

Pedro pulled back and nodded. “Uh huh. Harry lets me stay up later than all of you do. I like him the best.” Pedro stepped back and looked at Louis, confusion covering his face.

“Who are you?” he asked, looking at Louis with a scrunched up nose and a look of concentration.

Louis smiled at the little kid, thinking about how much he reminded him of the younger kids at the orphanage. Pedro had buzzed short black hair and brown eyes. One of his front teeth was missing and Louis was pretty sure he saw a bit of metal peeking out from under his shirt collar. He wore a sweater that was way too large on him, perhaps one that belonged to the guy – Harry. The sleeves were so long that they were dragging on the floor, their ends falling way past his wrists. He also had a suspiciously American-sounding accent but Louis couldn’t really place it.

“Hello tot,” Louis said as he held out his hand for Pedro to shake. “I’m Louis Tomlinson. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

Pedro looked at him suspiciously and then un-scrunched his face and struggled to get his hand from under the sleeve, eventually shaking Louis’ outstretched hand. Pedro’s hand was metallic but not cold. He let go of Louis’ hand and went to stand behind Harry, a little shy, but Louis could tell he was still curious from the way he poked his head out from behind Harry.

Louis looked up at Harry and he felt like he couldn’t breathe again. Harry was looking at him with such intensity, it was a bit nerve racking. Nonetheless, Louis persevered. He smiled as genuinely as he could with an intimidatingly gorgeous hunk standing in front of him and put out his hand for Harry to shake. “Louis,” he said. That’s all his brain could come up with at the moment.

“Harry Styles.”

Before Harry could say anything else, Liam said, “He’s joining us on tour. Assisting and doing checkups and whatnot. You’ll all properly get introduced to him at breakfast! It’s probably already set, so you should head on there once you’re ready. Bye, Pedro!”

Pedro waved from behind Harry and went back to the comfort of being shielded by his favourite person, Harry green eyes Styles.

They finished up the checkup; all in all, it took them about 2 hours. They headed to breakfast in the dining car, which Liam had pointed out to Louis while on the checkup tour. Everyone he’d met up until that point was there and about 30 or 40 more. The dining car was huge and the inside of it was furnished to look like a proper dining room in a fancy home with two very long wooden tables and many, many chairs.

He followed Liam to two empty seats near the end of one of the tables and sat in front of plenty of plates full of eggs, sausages, beans and much more. His stomach growled as he scanned the table.

“Dig right in,” Liam told him cheerfully. In front of them stood the black-haired guy in the cheerful sweater, Zayn, he remembered. To Zayn’s right sat Niall, munching happily on some cereal, his face and clothes now clean. “Frank will probably make an announcement at the end of the meal, that’s what he usually does, and he’ll probably introduce you then.”

“Eat fast and be ready,” Niall said. “When he introduced me to everyone, it was after dinner and everyone was groggy. Just hope everyone’s in a better mood.”

Louis scanned the room warily, looking at all the people eating and talking loudly around him. His eyes landed on Pedro and coincidentally, Harry, who were sitting at the table in front of them. Pedro was telling Harry an exciting story with hand gestures and weird noises, stopping every once in a while to spoon a scoop of cereal into his mouth, swallowing quickly to finish his story. Harry was listening intently to everything Pedro had to say, gasping at times and closing his eyes when Pedro’s story got too intense. Louis found that incredibly endearing.

Right when Louis finished eating and had decided that he’d spent a kind of worrying amount of time watching Harry and his little friend, Frank stood up and rang what looked like a little brass bell in his hand.

Everyone went quiet and all attention was on Frank.

“Good morning to all of you!” He beamed. “Just a reminder that we move in exactly two hours! We’ll be on the road for 12 hours and we’ll be stopping only twice. Get all you need from the kitchens, use the toilets, yada yada yada. You all know the drill. Head check is in an hour and 45 minutes so if any of you were thinking of leaving for a bit of shopping, you better be back by then. We don’t want another Paris incident. Looking at you, Niall!”

Everyone turned to look at Niall, laughing and whooping. Niall laughed and flipped off one of his friends who was particularly enjoying his suffering, but then immediately looked to check if Pedro saw what he did, a look of shame on his face.

“Also!” Frank continued and the room went silent again. “We have a new member! Louis Tomlinson, please stand up.”

Louis gulped and stood up, smiling at Frank. He didn’t know why he was so nervous. He usually didn’t shy away from being the center of attention. He usually embraced it, as a matter of fact, and his dream job as a kid was to be acting or doing some sort of work in the film or theatre industry. But, somehow, this was different.

He looked around the room and saw the blonde girl, Perrie, and three other girls. He smiled at them, thanking Liam in his head for taking him on that checkup tour thing, he appreciated having a familiar face to look at. He continued scanning the room and his eyes landed on Harry who was looking at him with a faint smile on his face.

“Louis here is going to join us on tour. He’ll be assisting anyone who needs assistance and doing regular checkups and headcounts and all that. Store runs, issues, anything of that sort. He’s new here so everyone be nice! He’ll probably need to get used to things before you can properly exploit his services.” Frank let out a hearty laugh, obviously pleased with that remark.

“That’s all for today, folks. Two hours. Be ready.” Frank sat back down and Louis followed suit. People started leaving, some continued eating and some came up to him to strike up a conversation, say hi and all that. When he looked back, Harry had already left and Pedro was standing next to Frank, likely retelling his story to the ringmaster.

  
  


The head check went smoothly. Louis stood next to Liam and tried to make sure he’d remember everyone, which was proving harder than he originally anticipated. By the end of it, he only remembered a blue-haired, yellow-eyed guy named Shawn and a part-time mermaid named Hazel who had iridescent scales on her arms and legs, glistening against her dark complexion. As well as, of course, Perrie, Zayn, Liam, Niall, Pedro and Harry. 

After Liam assured him he’d relay the head check and checkup details to Frank, Louis headed straight to the shared train car space that Liam pointed out to him during the checkup. This train car was as huge and as shiny as any of the other ones. The outside of it was decorated with the same drawings some of the other trailers had, including an incredible drawing of Cetus with a little boy on his back along with childlike drawings of grass, flowers and stick figure people. Now that he’s met everyone, Louis assumed the drawings were done by Pedro.

He walked inside to a homey interior; if Louis didn’t know he was in a train car, he would have never guessed so. There were royal purple couches lining the cream-colored walls, small black metallic hovering tables in front of a bunch of them and rugs of different colors were sprawled on the floor. A huge table hovered in the middle with all sorts of goodies on it. The walls were covered in framed posters of what Louis assumed were past show flyers. The inside of the train car was incredibly warm and Louis felt a bit choked up. This is where he’ll live now. This is real life. He gave a silent prayer to whatever force that was watching over him and gave him the idea to apply to join Cirque Cepheus in the first place.

Just then, the door to the train car swung open, and in walked Frank, Pedro and Mr. Harry Styles himself.

“Tomlinson!” Frank said. “There you are!”

“Here I am,” Louis said, stuffing his hands in his jean jacket pockets and smiling at Pedro who was hopping in between Frank and Harry.

“Liam told me how the checkup went! That’s good, that’s good. We’ll be arriving in Paris pretty late tonight, so I don’t expect you to do any more work. Tomorrow, though, you’ll help set up the tent in the morning and then help out whoever needs help during rehearsals. Liam also told me you have no place to sleep.”

Louis hadn’t really thought about that. All the train cars seemed to be taken so he’d probably have a bunch of roommates, which he definitely doesn’t mind. Where he came from, he slept with 3 other kids in one tiny room and shared a bathroom with a dozen others.

“Ah, yeah, I can sleep on one of the couches here if there isn’t a spare bed for me yet. I’m low maintenance.”

“Nonsense, boy. You’ll share a trailer with Harry here. He tells me you’ve already met?”

“Only briefly.” Louis smiled at the guy in question but didn’t really have time to say anything else before Pedro started telling Frank an exaggerated recounting of the story of how they met.

Harry chuckled and added. “You should have seen how Pedro jumped from my shoulders. He’s basically Spiderman.”

“Yeah!” Pedro said excitedly.

“We gotta add a spider segment to your performance then!” Frank said while patting Pedro’s head a few times.

“Let me know if you’re missing anything before we go to restock the pantry. We’ll get you a bed once we reach Paris. Harry’s got a spare key to his train car, you two figure out details. We move in 2 minutes so you better be where you wanna be before I lock the train for takeoff.”

And with that he left the three of them and went about his business.

“So, flatmate,” Harry said. “Do you want a tour of the room now or should we sit here and draw with Pedro now, then have lunch, and leave the tour for last?”

They went with the second option.

Louis was right by assuming Pedro’s the one that’s been doing all the train car drawings. Apparently, art is his new hyper fixation. Ever since he picked Harry as his favourite person, they’ve been drawing together every day, sometimes on paper or as holograms and sometimes on other places, like the train cars. What Louis hadn’t anticipated, though, is that Harry perfect Styles was the artist that drew alongside Pedro.

They sat on one of the purple couches with actual papers and actual pencils in front of them.

“Zayn collects old timey stuffs,” Pedro explained. “He lets us use them because we ask nicely.” 

They colored for a while until Pedro decided they should hold a contest, where Louis declared Pedro as the clearly superior artist. Louis wasn’t bad himself, but Harry’s work was something on a whole new level.

Pedro spent a whole hour after that showing Louis his artwork and ended up falling asleep on his lap.

In situations like this, Louis thought, there would only be one reasonable thing to do, and that is to sit exactly the way you already are and not move a single muscle until the little guy wakes up.

“You don’t have to do that you know,” Harry said, a few feet away on the couch right across from Louis.’ “I can come pick him up if he’s bothering you.”

“Don’t even dream of it,” Louis said. A few minutes passed with them sitting in comfortable silence, Harry still doodling in his sketchpad.

“You’re really good, you know.” Louis had to break the silence. He wasn’t a silence kind of guy.

“Hm?”

“At drawing. Or like, art in general. You’re really good.”

Harry looked up from his sketchpad, a faint smile on his face.

“Thanks. I’ve always liked art but ever since Pedro could hold a pen, he’d make me draw with him nonstop.”

“So you’re the one who’s drawn all over the train, huh?”

“Yeah,” Harry chuckled, his dimples showing Louis’ heart it was possible to find Harry even more attractive. Jesus.

“Frank wasn’t okay with it at first but this little bugger–” he lifted his head and pointed his chin at the little boy in Louis’ lap, “–can be pretty persuasive. Cuteness is a plus. You try saying no to those puppy eyes.”

Louis chuckled softly, looking down at the kid who’s warmed to him so fast, it was hard not to find it the most endearing thing in the world. He’s always absolutely adored little kids. 

Half an hour went by before the train came to a halt. The door opened automatically, letting the sun illuminate the dim room and waking up a peacefully sleeping Pedro.

  
  


After the first break went by, four hours felt like two in Louis’ opinion, the rest of the trip happened at around the same pace. The common train car got more and more crowded over time. The second break was when they had supper and third break was when people started going to their train cars.

When the train started moving again, the only people in the trailer other than Louis were Harry, Niall, Shawn, Zayn and Liam. An old timey holographic radio played softly in the background while they all shared stories, filling Louis in on all the nonsense they’ve gotten themselves into over the years.

Zayn is, as he previously told Louis himself, an escapologist, which was a fancy world for “putting myself into weird places and getting out before I die.” His words, not Louis.’ His genmods made him extremely flexible, with very malleable bones. He was also “extremely fast with his hands,” a comment which Liam proudly added to the conversation, which garnered a pillow to be thrown at him from across the room. Louis figured Zayn and Liam are involved somehow but he thought he shouldn’t pry. They were truly a force to be reckoned with, though.

Speaking of Liam, Louis found out that his new aquaintance’s genmod was that he was basically an animal whisperer. He could sort of understand most sorts of animals which helped him train even the worst of them.

Niall was, as well as being a mechanic, an acrobat, along with Shawn and another girl with purple hair Louis couldn’t really remember the name of.

“I’ve got the same genmod as Zaynie does,” he said. “Genmod 7689FG. Illegal. We just decided to use it differently.”

“Zayn also has a speed one,” Liam added. “But that’s not here or there.”

“Yeah, I also use my flexibility to reach tough spots while fixing shit,” Niall continued.

“A two show pony?” Louis mused.

“Leave my ponies out of this,” Liam said, making Louis smile like he never thought he could before. He really could get used to this; it already feels like he fits right in, like somehow he belonged with these people he’s never met before today.

Harry got them all snacks from a fridge tucked in the far right corner of the trailer and sat cross legged next to Louis.

“Harry here,” Niall said from across the room, throwing a peanut at Harry, “is a trapeze artist.”

“Excuse you Niall. I also juggle.”

Louis chuckled and looked at Harry sitting next to him. His hair was in a bun and his dimples were out in full view. Louis thought that it should be illegal for someone to look this good in their comfy night clothes but he decided not to say that out loud. Instead, he asked Harry, “Wait, what genmods help you become a trapeze artist? Can you fly or something?”

“Why does everyone ignore my juggling skills? I’m more than my flying talents you know.”

“Whoa, wait, so you can fly?”

“No, not really. I’m just super coordinated. Gangly, but coordinated. I can see stuff in an almost slow motion like manner if I want to, too. Some eye genmod. I wouldn’t know what it is exactly, though. I’ve never met my family to ask them.”

“Oh, neither have I, except I don’t have a genmod,” Louis mused, zoning out for a sec thinking about how many times he had to tell people today that he was completely ordinary, before looking back and asking, “And Pedro? What’s his story?”

“He’s Frank’s,” Liam said.

“But not really,” Niall added.

“He found him around 7 years ago, abandoned in one of the cities we were visiting while in the Americas. He was only a few months old at the time,” Liam explained.

“Frank’s a softie, he can’t let someone in need go if he stumbles upon them,” Shawn said, a faint smile tugging at his lips.

“Yeah. Pedro was wounded too. If Frank didn’t find him when he did… I don’t really like thinking about that,” Harry whispered, pulling his knees to his chest and resting his head on them. “He’s a good kid.”

“Yeah. But anyways, Frank paid for his exmods, raised him as his own. His name was actually written on a blanket he was wrapped in when frank found him,” Liam said.

“Mhm. Frank just homeschools him now and he’s a part of the show. The little pup could lift a whole train car with his mods; both his arms and one of his legs are solid silver,” Shawn added.

Louis was speechless after hearing such an intense story.

“He’s a sweet little kid,” Louis said at last, the only thing he could think of.

“He is,” Harry said, looking at Louis with a little twinkle in his eye.

The conversation kept going the whole night through until the train halted for the last time that day. The doors opened and everyone inside the common room started getting up.

“So Louis,” Shawn said, stifling a yawn, “where are you staying? Are you sleeping here on one of the couches or...”

“No no, Frank said he’d stay in my train car. Since I’m the only person with a single.”

“Makes sense.” Niall stretched his arms and cracked something in his shoulder. “Goodnight, lads. Long day tomorrow.”

“Long day every day,” Zayn mumbled and stepped out of the trailer, followed by Liam who also wished everyone a goodnight.

Shawn and Niall left while arguing about who should open the door this time to face the wrath of their very light sleeper roommate who always turned in at the beginning of the night.

That left Harry and Louis.

“Okay. Let’s go.”

“First train car behind the dining car, right?”

“Yup. And we can make as much noise as we want; Pedro’s sleeping at Frank’s tonight.”

They walked over to the very front of the train, bantering a little. It surprised Louis how easily it was for him to just be himself around everyone here. He thought he should probably stop getting surprised at everything but he decided to cut himself some slack, it was his first day after all.

Harry gave Louis the access code to his – their – train car and opened it with a swish of his hand. The door swung open to the inside, showing a very simple room. The walls were a pastel purple with all sorts of drawings on them. Most of them done by Harry but Louis could tell there was some Pedro influence. Simple furniture with clean lines stood tall throughout the room. Two wardrobes, a dresser, two cabinets lined the walls, all with a white metallic finish. Two beanbags sat in one end of the room, one huge and grey and the other tiny and blue. On the other side of the trailer was a single queen-sized bed.

Louis did a double take.

“One bed?”

“Hope that’s okay? It’s only temporary until we get you one. I’ve had this room for myself for a while. I was the last added member to Cirque Cepheus up until now. There’s plenty of room on this bed I promise. You won’t even notice I’m there.”

But notice he did.

Louis was very,  _ very _ aware of Harry sleeping next to him. He wasn’t used to sleeping next to anyone. He slept with people, not next to them. He always made it a point to leave right after. Don’t get attached, he’d tell himself, do him once and then leave. All in good fun.

But Harry was softly snoring next to him, his hair no longer in a bun and his side emanating heat, letting Louis know that even if he closed his eyes, Harry wouldn’t magically disappear.

He looked over at the sleeping guy next to him. He was a thing of beauty. And Louis was a creep.

He cursed himself and let out a sigh before turning to the other side and forcing his thoughts to think of anything but the adorable sleeping guy next to him.

  
  


The next day, Louis woke up with Harry dangerously close to him. He got out of bed and headed to the bathroom, deciding that it would be best if Harry didn’t see him with the morning surprise his body decided to give him. Besides, the sun was already out anyways.

He walked to the bathroom, washed up, and showered. Once he was outside, he had no time to wonder what he should do before everyone’s awake because Liam and Zayn were standing right there, as they had been the day before, with steaming cups and smiles on their faces.

Again, too early for Liam’s one million quid smile, but it was there nonetheless.

“Good morning, lads.”

“Morning, Louis!” Liam replied almost instantly.

“What are you doing up so early?” Zayn asked. He’d clearly just woken up.

“I might ask you the same question.”

“I like working out in the morning,” Liam said. “Makes me energetic.”

“And I’m a light sleeper. He leaves, I’m awake.”

“Stop complaining, Zaynie, you usually go back to sleep anyways.”

Zayn shrugged and sipped his drink.

“So… what’s on the agenda today?” Louis asked.

“Breakfast. Setup. Lunch. Rehearsals. Dinner. Same thing happens tomorrow, minus the setup part of course. We start shows the day after that.”

“Cool. Should we – I – do the checkup?”

“Nah, I usually do it every other day. You should just go wake everyone up for breakfast. I think it might be almost ready, it’s 8 a.m. already.”

“On it.”

Louis did as he was told, and the day went just as Liam said it would.

The day consisted mostly of Louis following Niall around to help with tent setup, which was way easier than Louis thought it would be. A lot of metal parts, a lot of projector setups for holograms, a lot of unpacking parts and pressing the “on” button and letting the part navigate and attach itself to the right place. The last step was to turn on all the outside projectors, which made all the metal bits of the tent look like yellow and red striped fabric, like you might see in pictures of circuses from the last millennia. Holograms of strings holding the fabric down also materialized, looking incredibly real even in the blazing sunlight.

Rehearsals also went by smoothly. Louis was there to watch the progress, help anyone out with anything they needed and just to enjoy the show overall. He missed Zayn’s practice session because he was helping Niall with some mechanical tweaking but by the time he went back to the main stage Zayn was dripping wet, smiling and very much alive, which was incredible since he was locked in a fish tank and he had to escape it with an insane time limit.

He sat down next to Pedro and Harry and watched Liam enter on top of Cetus’ back. The contrast between the elephant’s bedazzled metallic parts and the bright red saddle with Liam’s all-black outfit was eye-catching. The animals gave it their all, and so did Liam. Pedro cheered at the top of his lungs and then got up and did an intricate little secret handshake with Harry before heading to the main stage for his part.

Pedro was incredible, lifting whole cars with one hand, his smile ever present. Harry looked so proud of the little tot, Louis thought he might implode. The little guy kept looking their way and Louis kept giving him a thumbs up, amazed at what a tiny person was capable of.

Harry’s bit was next, and Louis wasn’t even able to look away. If he hadn’t witnessed this with his own eyes, Louis wouldn’t have believed it. Off stage, Harry resembled a baby deer, all limbs and maybe even a little clumsy; but during his act, Harry was anything but clumsy. He leaped from one bar to the next with ease, twirling in the air and quite literally throwing his partner, a pretty, tanned muscular guy, into the air and catching him like he weighed nothing. It didn’t really help that Harry was in a tight leotard with white trousers on top that flared at the ends. It was an incredibly weird outfit but it suited Harry so goddamn much.

“He really is something else, isn’t he?” 

Louis leaped almost as high as the trapeze artists themselves as the voice came from nowhere, pulling him out of his gawking thoughts. Liam stood there, changed and showered, his towel slung around his bare shoulders.

“Yeah. He is.”

Just then a small yell made them look back to the stage, where they saw Harry free falling and hitting the net underneath him. He cursed and jumped to the ground, landing on his feet.

“No luck again, mate?” Liam said.

Harry shook his head. “It’s too complex. The flips and pirouettes take too much time, I gotta have better timing.”

“What were you trying to do?” Louis wondered aloud.

“It’s this intricate routine that I have to do midair, halfway through my jump. I’ve wanted to add it to my set for almost two months now but I’m always too damn slow,” Harry replied with a frown.

“You’ll get it at some point, don’t worry.” 

Frank’s voice came from behind them, making them all look in his direction. “You did well, my boy. Don’t be too hard on yourself. Louis, would you come with me? I’ve got a few things I want you to take care of.”

Louis took a mental note to watch out for this dangerous routine Harry was going on about, then followed Frank out of the tent, ready for whatever job he was going to have to do.

  
  


Around a month into the tour, Louis really started getting the hang of things. People’s names came easily to him, he had actual friends and he found himself slipping into a comfortable routine with everyone around him.

They’d get to a place, set up, rehearse for two days, and then perform on the night of the third. The turn out was always massive; Louis almost couldn’t believe his eyes the first time he looked out from behind the curtain. After the show comes a checkup, errands, head checks and travelling to their next destination.

Louis loved the train rides in all their forms. The quiet ones that gave him space and time to himself, the rowdy ones with the whole crew in the common train car, even the times he’s had to spend with Niall and Cetus working for hours while the train moved were some of the happiest moments of Louis’ life. Everyone was so nice, everything came to him easily. They’d gotten used to him and his sense of humor and he hadn’t felt this comfortable in a place since Jay left.

At night, he’d sleep in his and Harry’s train car. They’d gotten super comfortable around each other and Louis’ gotten super smitten with Harry. It was a total schoolboy crush but Louis couldn’t help it. He figured it was only natural to be attracted to someone like him, so he admired him silently and enjoyed their effortless friendship. Pedro would sometimes come sleep in between them and those days were some of Louis’ favourite too. He’d always liked kids and seeing how Harry and Pedro got along warmed his heart like a mug of hot chocolate would on a cold December night. Those were Louis’ favourite  _ and _ least favourite nights. He liked not waking up horrified because he was entangled in Harry’s arms or, even worse, with his arms around Harry. Louis wasn’t a liar, though, and to say he didn’t miss it on the nights Pedro was there would be breaking one of the few rules he had for himself. He wasn’t a liar, and he liked sharing a bed with Harry.

Louis kept “forgetting” to remind Frank about getting another bed, and Harry claimed to only remember at the worst moments, like right after the train starts moving or right after Liam and Louis come back from the shops. Louis wasn’t complaining, though. He really didn’t mind sharing a bed with the god of good looks and trapeze, or whatever Harry was.

They also continued their ritual of drawing together in the common area train car, sometimes joined by Niall and Shawn who always flirt shamelessly while splattering each other with whatever medium was being used that day. Louis figured that the only people that didn’t know Niall and Shawn were into each other were Niall and Shawn.

“Louis,” Pedro whispered and gestured for Louis to come closer. “I was talking to Haz and we decided to let you come color one of the train cars with us.”

Pedro’s eyes twinkled with pride, maybe at his incredibly generous offer or at his newest Pedro Paint Club addition. Louis put a hand on his chest and gasped before saying, “Peepo, what an honor.”

“I know. I told Haz you’d want to! We will draw tomorrow after rehearsals! Frank told me I could even pick one of the clean train cars!”

“That’s so cool! I don’t know if I’ll be able to draw as amazing as you though…”

“It’s okay. Haz tries his best, you should try too!”

Harry chuckled and continued doodling in his open sketchbook, not looking up or trying to join the conversation.

The rehearsal the next day was just as painful for Harry as the first one Louis had been at. He was determined to get that jump down to a T. Louis worried he’d genuinely hurt himself a little too badly if he kept this up. The look of concentration on his face told everyone how serious he was about getting this right. He’d perfected every part of the routine, all of it came to him like it was nothing, except towards the end where he added the new set of jumps. Every time he fell onto the net, Louis thanked god the net was there. Each fall forced Harry to keep the new jump out of the routine yet again, which would put him in a weird mood for the rest of the day.

One day, Harry was practicing his usual routine and when he got to that part of it, the net wasn’t very nice to him. The net’s springs cut through Harry’s clothes and straight into his skin. Louis was just coming back from an errand he had to run for Frank when he saw Harry fall. He rushed to his side, immediately grabbing the first aid kit.

When he got there, Harry’s trapeze partner George was already on the ground next to him and he was nursing a wound on his right elbow while his left knee bled through the white fabric of his trousers.

“Shit, Haz, are you okay?”

Louis flinched at the nickname. Haz was a name only Pedro used for Harry but Louis wasn’t about to take it back now that he’s said it.

“Yeah. I just gotta wash it and clean it before it gets infected.”

“Okay, let’s go do that then.”

“Oh, you’re… coming with me?”

“Of course I’m coming with you! My old counselor was a nurse. She’d taught me a few tricks of the trade. You’d be in good hands, Styles. And even if she wasn’t, I’m not about to let my one and only roomie tend to his own wounds. What kind of man do you think I am?”

Louis walked straight towards the closest bathroom and as he’d expected Harry had silently followed suit. He opened the door and set the first aid kit on the edge of the bathtub and then sat next to it and waited for Harry to trudge in.

“Sit on the toilet. Come on now, we don’t have  _ all _ day.”

Harry did as he was told.

“Take off your trousers,” Louis said, cocking an eyebrow.

“Do what now?”

“You heard me, Haz. How the hell am I supposed to treat your wound if it’s covered by dirty trousers?”

“Oh makes sense.” Harry chuckled lightly and did as he was told yet again.

Louis didn’t stare. At least that was what he’d say if you’d asked him.

The truth was simple, however; Louis stared for too long, admiring the delicate tattoos covering Harry’s skin on his thighs and hips. He tore his eyes off of Harry, not a measly task, and started going through the first aid kit for disinfectants and 24-hour self-healing bandages. That was really all Harry needed. The fall might have hurt but it was just a simple scrape. Did Louis exaggerate how dangerous the situation might get if left ignored? Maybe. But that is not of the utmost importance. What was important at the moment was Harry’s hurt leg.

Louis pulled out the disinfectant and a cotton swab and started applying it to the wound, making Harry wince at the stinging pain.

“Sorry,” Louis mumbled, although he wasn’t sure he was sorry. Harry’s skin was soft and Louis’ cheeks were heating up. Did a schoolboy crush always come with schoolboy behavior? Louis was a grownup and grown-up people don’t blush.

Except they do. And Louis’ cheeks and ears were extremely red.

He applied the healing bandages gently onto Harry’s open wound, then pressed lightly on it to make sure it was secured in its place.

“There! Wasn’t so bad was it? Okay, gimme your elbow now.”

Harry rolled up his sleeve instead of taking off his sweatshirt, much to Louis’ disappointment, and Louis applied the disinfectant and the bandages as gently as he could, almost afraid that if he was too rough, he’d cause Harry’s skin to tear itself apart.

Louis knew he was being silly. Harry was an actual trapeze artist and regularly slung himself from one swing to another like the Tarzan he is, he wasn’t in the slightest a fragile egg, but every part of Louis screamed at him to treat the boy in front of him with the utmost care.

“Okay,” he said finally after finishing up. “You’ll be as good as new in 24 hours.”

He looked up at Harry who was examining Louis’ handiwork with a faint smile on his face.

“Thanks, Nurse Tomlinson,” he said, looking up with twinkling eyes and a crooked smile.

“Well, of course. Grab a lolly on your way out. Customer satisfaction is our number one priority.”

  
  


Mornings were now Louis’ favourite time of day. Every day for the past three months Louis would wake up with the sun. He went about his day as necessary, prepping for rehearsals, going to the shops to buy whatever the others requested, and then coming back to wake everyone up. Sometimes if Pedro was awake he’d bring him along. He’s grown quite fond of the little guy, which wasn’t surprising to him in the slightest. He’d always taken care of the little ones back where he was raised.

This little one was somehow different. He’d invited Louis to paint on the train cars with him and Harry and since then that activity replaced sleeping as Louis’ favourite pastime. He considered himself an honorary guest on the train car art show that Harry and Pedro were leading before he joined. He got to spend the morning after breakfast getting paint all over his clothes, Harry’s clothes and Pedro’s entire face.

On Louis’ 3-month anniversary (but Louis wasn’t counting. Not at all! Not even a little! ) he woke up a little too enthused. Today was the day Harry was finally going to add his mad 10-foot triple loop something or other jump stunt to his set. He’d been practicing relentlessly, and Louis’ been watching him almost religiously. The last 7 times were absolutely perfect, but that didn’t mean Harry wasn’t batshit nervous, and that also didn’t erase the countless times Louis had had to tend to Harry’s scratches and scrapes over the past few months. “You should remind me to add part time nurse to my CV so I can land a better job than this,” he’d tell Harry, all the while dotingly tending to his wounds, not even an ounce of resentment in his voice.

Louis got up and started doing his rounds as usual, then headed straight to the nearest all-purpose shop to get what their chef requested for breakfast that day. Louis made sure to grab Harry some fresh fruits and a particularly delicious-looking pastry for good luck. He came back and started his regular wake-up calls, stopping to chat with Perrie and the girls, and to make sure Niall was still alive and well after he heard yet another crash from one of the barn train cars. He headed back to his car to wake Harry up, only to find Pedro had already done just that and was already jumping on the bed while Harry was stubbornly keeping his eyes closed.

“Why’d you start without me?” Louis asked and then lunged at the screaming boy. “Good morning, sunshine! It’s the big day! I got you all the fresh fruit your tiny healthy heart would desire. I also got you a tiny pastry from this tiny local place I passed by.”

“What about me what did you get me!” Pedro said, trying to wiggle himself out of Louis’ grip.

“You know I got you pastries too! Some super warm chocolate croissants just for you, as long as we wake up Haz before they get cold.”

That’s all Pedro needed to hear. He walked over and picked Harry up as easily as Louis would a blanket. Harry let out a high-pitched yelp which made Pedro giggle maniacally before letting the other guy down. “If you don’t wake up right now, Hazzy, I  _ will _ pick you up and take you to the bathroom myself.”

“Listen to him, Hazzy. Warm pastries are at stake.”

Harry’s dimples appeared as his smile spread and his eyes opened. “Okay, okay, you guys win, I’m getting up.”

“You better,” Louis said, every ounce of him resisting the urge to lean down and kiss him. Harry’s sleepy face was another thing Louis thought should be illegal. Instead, he picked up Pedro and headed to the dining car.

  
  


After a good breakfast, an even better rehearsal and an insanely smooth checkup, Louis found himself behind the red curtains, waiting for the show to start. He’d asked Frank if he could sit with the crowd this show because he wanted to see Harry perfect his jump in real time, and Frank, ever the sweetheart, told him that he could. Louis was just waiting for Harry to get in so he could wish him luck in person before heading to sit among the crowd.

Harry walked in minutes before the show started wearing a blue leotard with sheer frilly blue and green bits coming out the sides. Twinkling lights shone around his chest and in his hair making him look as magical as a human being can be. The most important part of his look was his short hair. Louis wasn’t sure when he could have gotten a haircut but it absolutely made his heart stop beating for a second. Harry saw Louis and walked up to him a big smile on his face and his arms outstretched to show off his outfit better.

“What’dya think?” Harry asked, spinning once and then stopping in front of Louis in all his glory.

“What the fuck! You cut your hair! It looks so good.”

“So you didn’t like it before?” Harry teased.

Louis snorted. As if Harry could look bad.

“You’re incredible in all your forms, babe.”

Harry raised an eyebrow but his smile got bigger. “Babe?”

Louis blushed, but decided to go with it. “There’s more where that came from after your part, pumpkin. Good luck, babycakes.”

“Thanks, sugar plum,” Harry said and pulled Louis in for a kiss on the cheek. Louis pushed him away playfully then headed to sit in the front row in his reserved seat. Working with the circus had its perks.

Before too long, the lights dimmed and Frank’s voice echoed through the whole tent.

“Ladies, gentlemen and everyone otherwise identifying in this respectable crowd tonight. I hope you’re all prepared to be amazed, because the show you’re about to see will leave you…” holographic images of tiny elephants appeared in front of every seat in the arena “speechless!” With that, the little elephants ran away and towards the middle of the stage where they collided and turned into a spotlight shining over Frank in his ringmaster outfit smiling at everyone like his face had no other facial expression.

The little elephants rematerialized around Frank and started dancing around and making tiny toots. “My great-grandfather always used to say that you haven’t truly lived until you’ve seen an elephant up close. I heard that and then said, let me raise you one. You haven’t lived until you’ve seen a giant half robotic elephant with your own two eyes.” Some people in the audience cheered and giggled. “Prepare to be amazed! Everyone please give it up for Cetus the elephant and our own Liam Payne!”

Cetus walked in all high and mighty with Liam sitting on his back waving to everyone. Frank went back behind the red curtains and let Liam do his thing. Louis’ seen Liam rehearse so many times but watching the real thing with the audience was a totally different experience. Liam was killing it, the animals all did exactly as he asked, dancing twirling and jumping through hoops. The automatons all lit up brightly from the inside, different colors emanating from their rib cages and skin. It was truly mesmerizing.

Liam and all the animals took a victory lap around the stage area and bowed in front of a rowdy audience before disappearing behind the holographic curtains. Frank stepped out again and introduced the next act, which was Perrie and Leigh-Anne doing some sick knife throwing, followed by Jade and Jesy on aerial hoops. The crowd loved them and Louis’ pride in his friends just kept magnifying itself in his chest.

“Hold on to your seats,” Frank said once Jade and Jesy left the stage. “This next one is a real nailbiter. Please put your hands together and welcome the magnificent Zayn!”

Zayn walked in, a huge smile on his face and his black and white outfit shone bright blue under the black lights installed on the ceiling. Louis had seen him do this trick about a hundred times but seeing it with the crowd, hearing their collective gasp as the clock ticked down, increasing the stakes on Zayn escaping the locked fish tank, actually gave Louis some anxiety. Zayn made it out in one piece, dripping wet, and immediately starting his next trick, which was even more anxiety-inducing than the first. Louis cheered him on, slowly letting go of any lingering doubt after every escape.

The show went on in the same way for a while, with performances like light manipulation, shape-shifting tricks and mermaid fire eaters. Niall and Shawn were also incredible with the most intense acrobat routine Louis had ever seen, Shawn’s blue hair and yellow eyes glinting in the incredible light show that their light producer had put together.

Pedro’s part came next. And Louis’ voice has never reached this decibel in his life. The little kid knew how to put on a show.

Harry followed and Louis was on edge the whole time, waiting for the last bit where Harry was going to take a leap of faith. He was sure Harry was going to do it. No doubt in his mind. It was more excitement than nervousness, he reckoned. Harry’s worked so hard on this routine and he was finally doing it, and the leadup was phenomenal. He was gliding from swing to swing like he weighed nothing. He threw his partner in the air, did a double flip, and then caught him without even breaking a sweat. Louis wasn’t sure he’d ever get used to how incredible Harry was.

When it came time for the jump, Louis was quite literally sitting on the edge of his seat and holding his breath. It wasn’t particularly helpful that Josh was on the drums building up to Harry’s big jump. It was higher than he’d ever gone, no net underneath, and 5 midair flips with two pirouettes thrown in between and one swing to hold on to in between.

And lord almighty did he deliver. Harry executed the moves perfectly and seamlessly and Louis was speechless for 2 whole seconds before he exploded with the rest of the audience, cheering like he’d never done before and whistling until his lungs couldn’t take any more. He got up and ran to the back, not able to sit still and watch the rest of the show after the adrenaline rush watching Harry fucking Styles do the impossible.

Louis walked in behind the curtain just as Harry was climbing down the ladder. He jogged up to Harry who scooped him up in a hug once he saw him and spun him around, both of them cheering incoherently, Louis hitting him on the back and trying to form proper words that could be heard over the music to let him know that that was incredible. Harry set him down and was beaming ear to ear, his face flushed and his eyes sparkly and fixed on Louis. All Louis wanted to do was to kiss him right then and there.

Before he could do anything with that thought, he was interrupted by Pedro, Niall, Liam and Zayn walking up to them and congratulating Harry on making the jump.

Louis didn’t go back to watch the rest of the show, he sat in the back with the other cast and crew, the feeling of pride in his chest growing exponentially every time someone talked to Harry about his performance.

  
  


Everyone knew how important that show was for Harry if the celebrations after the show were any indication. With the exception of the littlest member of the crew, everyone was up until 2 a.m. in the common trailer. Even Frank joined them all, telling stories about when Harry first joined the circus, shocking everyone with his 12-year-old self’s already prevalent skills. Louis made a bunch of jokes at his expense, but only ones that he knew wouldn’t upset Harry. He’d first fuck off to hell before saying anything that he thought might upset Harry. Besides, after four months, everyone knows what his sense of humor was like.

At around 3 a.m., both he and Harry were lying on Harry’s-but-actually-their-shared bed, motionless, but so obviously awake that it hurt Louis to stay quiet. He was in the middle of both trying to find something to say and wondering why it suddenly became a little unnatural to be around Harry when it hasn’t been since day one when Harry cleared his throat and said, “You’re awake right?”

Louis hummed in response and waited for Harry to say more, which came after five heartbeats, a simple, “You wanna get outta here for a bit? I can’t sleep.”

They both got dressed in warm clothes and Louis followed Harry closely, not really knowing what they were going to do but knowing that he was on board regardless.

Harry stopped in front of the robotic barn and quickly typed in the pin on his glass tablet then stepped in. Louis stepped in after him and saw that he was headed straight to Zeus, the giant golden eagle that was soundly snoring in his coop.

“What are you doing, Haz?”

“Don’t worry, he’s used to it. Wake up, Zeus.”

Zeus opened his eyes, a bright blue light scanning the surroundings before he looked at Louis with an annoyed expression, then turning to look at Harry. Once he recognized Harry, he squeaked and head butted Harry’s outstretched hand. Louis could almost swear he heard him purr.

“I used to do this a lot whenever I sleep alone, ah, without Pedro I mean, whenever I couldn’t sleep. Haven’t been here in a while though, I missed the big guy.”

“A while?”

“Yeah. Ever since you showed up, I haven’t really needed to run away.”

Louis let Harry’s words settle in his chest as Harry untied Zeus and with one swift motion got on his back. He rode him up to where Louis was standing and offered him his hand, which Louis happily took. When they were both on Zeus’ back, Harry looked back at Louis and said, “hold on Lou, he’s a bit fast.” He patted the bird on his neck twice and Zeus shot up in the air, not needing to be told again.

It was exhilarating; the air almost painful in Louis’ lungs and rippling through his hair as he stood up and held onto Harry’s shoulders and let out what could only be described as a mixture of a howl, a yelp and a battle cry. By the time they got to their destination, Louis’ voice was almost gone and his ears were ringing from the loud wind and his own happy screaming.

He looked around and saw nothing but open fields in front of them and a forest behind them. They seemed to be on a hill in the middle of nowhere.

“Is this where you take all your victims, Mr. serial killer?”

Harry giggled and tied Zeus’ leash on a nearby tree, then sat down at the edge of the hill looking straight ahead. Louis hadn’t realized it until he followed Harry’s gaze ahead, but the sky was dotted with stars that you’d rarely see near cities because of all the light pollution. It was breathtaking.

“You’re actually my first,” Harry said with a dopey smile on his face, “I usually take Zeus and go stargazing alone but I think I wanted company today. Zeus is really good at finding secluded areas.”

Louis sat down next to him, staring ahead at the sparkling sky.

“I’ve never seen the sky look this pretty.”

Harry hummed and turned to look at Louis “I started this whole night trips thing when I was 16, maybe. I had had a fascination with constellations ever since frank told me Cepheus and Cetus were both names of constellations. It’s a little silly but I feel at peace here you know? It doesn’t feel like I’m Harry Styles, the guy with intense illegal genmods. Here I’m just – you know what, it’s stupid, I’ll just shut up.”

“What?! No, don’t you dare, Curly. I don’t like it when people don’t finish what they started to say.” Louis nudged Harry’s side playfully which got him a soft laugh in return. Does he have to have a cute laugh? Louis didn’t think that was fair and he definitely didn’t think it would be healthy for his heart.

Harry leaned back and lay on the grass, staring straight up at the sky. “I know it’s a little pretentious, but I sort of feel one with the universe. No extras, no modern tech. Just me as a human and the world as is. I like it. It reminds me that life’s uncertain in a way. The universe is so old, so many people have lived and died, and nothing happened the way scientists in the past thought it would, you know? It’s all fascinating.”

Louis followed suit and lay on the grass next to him, hands on his stomach and staring at the little glittering lights above.

“Yeah, I guess you’re right. Not even in the grand scheme of things. Nothing is ever certain. I was literally living in an abandoned house somewhere before I joined Cirque Cepheus and I had accepted that that would be my fate, my life forever. But then I came to Frank on a whim and, well, look at me now.”

Harry turned his head to look at Louis, his usual massive dopey smile still on his face. “Look at you now. I’m glad you’re here. I couldn’t have asked for a better roommate if I tried.”

Louis snorted at that. “Yeah right.”

“What, I’m just speaking my truth, Tomlinson.”

“Well, maybe think about updating your system so you can fit better ‘truths’ into it. I’m probably the most boring roommate you’ve ever had. And the messiest. You can juggle, for god’s sake!”

That made Harry giggle, which was Louis’ plan all along.

“Thank you for acknowledging my superior talent, Tommo.”

“That’s what roommates are for.”

Louis turned his face to look at Harry and his heart did the familiar somersault he’s grown used to over the past few weeks.

They both turned their heads to look at the sky again after a few seconds of a weirdly charged staring contest.

They sat in silence for a long time just staring at the stars and listening to the rustling of the wind.

“Hey, Lou?”

“Hm?”

“Do you have any regrets?”

Louis let out a short laugh and turned to look at Harry. “You know it’s not good etiquette to ask your date about the deepest darkest bits of their soul.” Harry let out a breathy chuckle but said nothing to protest Louis’ suggestion. “If you must know, though, I think I might yeah.”

“Me too. What’s yours?”

“I regret not tracking my family down once I left the orphanage. I was just… scared, I think. Couldn’t get out of that headspace long enough to actually do it.”

“You still could do that, you know. This time you’d even have all of us to back you up. It’ll still be scary but not as it would have been when you had just left.”

“You think so?”

“I know so. Sometimes you have to push yourself and take a risk. Life’s too short and all of that.”

“What about you?” 

“Not speaking up about what was bothering me at home before I left. I ran away instead and it took me years to reconnect with my family. I was young and thought that no one would understand.. Even though this is basically my family and my home now. Don’t get me wrong! I couldn't be happier about Working with FRank and the rest. I just regret not living with my mom and my sister during my teenage years. I just sort of feel like I missed out. My sister, Gemma, reminds me a lot of Pedro. I think I would have liked to grow up alongside her.”

“Is that why you’re so fond of the little guy?”

“I mean, yeah, a little. How can you not love him, though? He got me into art again; he just gave my life its meaning back, you know? Even though he’s Frank’s kid and all.”

“Yeah. Understandable.” A few moments of silence passed before Louis said, “Damn, my punk rock facade has been taken away from me! Whatever will I do now!” He put a hand on his chest and closed his eyes in feigned agony.

Harry let out a loud laugh and said, “What punk rock facade? We all know you’re a massive dork and an even bigger softie, Loubear.”

“Just because I let you call me that doesn’t mean I’m not punk rock okay?!”

“Oh yeah? Prove it, Loubear.”

Louis didn’t know what came over him but right then he flipped himself so he’d be on top of Harry, pinning him down. He lowered himself so that his face was about an inch from Harry’s. Harry’s eyes were wide and Louis wasn’t sure if he was breathing. “Is this punk rock enough for you?” he asked, thanking whatever force that ruled the universe for keeping his voice loud and steady.

“Keep going and I’ll let you know.”

Louis lowered himself the last little bit and kissed the smug smile off of Harry’s face. Somehow, it felt completely different from anything he’d ever experienced. It almost felt as intense as flying on Zeus’ back felt. When he pulled back, Harry was smiling up at him again. “That,” he said laughing lightly, “was 4 months overdue.”

  
  


Sneaking out in the middle of the night to go stargazing became a habit of theirs that no one but Zeus knew about. If you would have asked Louis 8 months ago if he’d ever be able to find a place to call home, he would have told you it was unlikely. He thought that, at best, he’d be able to get a proper living space soon but he hadn’t expected anything more from life.

Lying next to Harry under the stars, Louis knew that he’d finally found it. Home wasn’t a myth anymore; it was his reality.

“What are you thinking of?” Harry said reaching out to hold Louis’ hand.

“Just that it’s only been 7 months since I joined Cepheus. Feels like I’ve known all of you my whole life.”

“Yeah. It feels like forever.”

Louis hummed in response and then after a few moments of silence asked, “What now?”

“Well, preferably a few hundred more forevers with you.”

Yeah. Louis’ finally home. 

  
  



End file.
